The Wayland Union school district is off to a pretty good start this fall, at least that’s what the Board of Education was told Monday night.

Good news was relayed about the school system’s financial condition, about the new “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” program, the student enrollment count, revenue sharing from the Gun Lake Casino and inspections of the bus fleet.

Patricia Velie, assistant superintendent for finances and operations, reported a 19.7 percent fund balance in the budget as of June 30, 2022. That’s just about the highest number in quite a few years.

Two auditors from Plante & Moran confirmed Velie’s assessment, noting the audit showed “no significant findings of issues.” One commented, “Pat does a great job as finance officer.”

The down side is that Velie plans to retire at the end of this year after serving the district for more than four years.

It was noted in the audit that the district took in $36.7 million in revenue, spent $35.121 million in expenditures.

Velie also noted the school system feared losing students as a result of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but now is showing a gain of 61 students, to 2.826 K-12. The biggest gain was at the high school, with almost 39., and Steeby Elementary was close behind with 33.

This would mean a bump in state revenue sharing, which is distributed on a per-pupil basis.

Velie said the district expected about $1.5 million in revenue from the Gun Lake Casino, but it came in at $1.9 million.

Responding to assertions the casino revenue should be used for big bond projects, she said, “The casino takes care of the small stuff (in budget expenses). We (the schools) have to care of the big stuff.”

The casino money is used for auxiliary educational and athletic programs, such as Odyssey of the Mind, Robotics, the recent demolition and removal of asbestos at the former Career Connections Academy building across from Pine Street Elementary, and a variety of other services.

Another plus, Velie said, was that the bus fleet passed inspections despite problems with short staffing for drivers and mechanics.

However, the school bus situation still is a huge negative with a shortage of drivers and personnel. It has affected transportation to and from athletic contests and the assistant superintendent said the number of routes has been reduced from 18 to 14.

In other business at Monday night’s meeting, the board:

• Was reintroduced to Jennifer Moushegian, former teacher, coach and Pine Street Elementary principal, who has returned to the school system as athletics coordinator at the middle school.
• Was told by Velie that the district has three full-time guaranteed substitute teachers at the high school and several others at other buildings. This helps with the continuing widespread problems getting substitutes to work in daily situations.
• Learned from Assistant Supt. of Instruction Teresa Fulk that the district is applying 98c grants to help fund programs to address learning loss and increase the local books supply.
• Agreed to pay $23,133.45 for purchase of cafeteria tables at Baker School.
• Heard parent Jenny Sass Ward heap praise on the CCA program for helping her son get back into the swing of acdemics.
• Was told by Middle School Principal Carolyn Whyte that the number of behavioral referrals has declined significantly in the first month of this academic year. She also had high praise for 20 students who took the initiative to get involved in the Peer to Peer program to better understand young people with disabilities.